Dja Faunal Reserve

Dja Faunal Reserve
(c) Peter Howard, africannaturalheritage.org.

The Dja Faunal Reserve covers one of the largest and best-protected rainforests in Africa noted for its biodiversity.

The reserve is almost completely surrounded by the Dja River, a contributary to the Congo River. Its dense primary forests are the habitat of over 100 mammal species and more than 320 bird species. Especially notable are its primates, such as the western lowland gorilla, chimpanzee, mandrill, and drill. African grey parrot and Grey-necked Picathartes are among the birds that are found here.

Community Perspective: this site has been unreviewed so far, no wonder since it has no road access and only about 100 people visit overall annually.

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Site Info

Full Name
Dja Faunal Reserve
Unesco ID
407
Country
Cameroon
Inscribed
1987
Type
Natural
Criteria
9 10
Categories
Natural landscape - Forest Wildlife habitat - Fauna
Link
By ID

Site History

1987 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Dja Faunal Reserve
Related

Conservation of Great Apes on the Periphery of the Dja Reserve

In the News

Cameroon panic as elephants escape Dja Faunal Reserve (2010.05.16)

Locations

The site has 1 locations

Dja Faunal Reserve

Connections

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Damaged
'Threatened' by Dams: Mekin Dam
Poaching: There are reports of large scale commercial hunting of elephants, buffalos and various antelopes. Again the extent of the reserve is such that it is unlikely that hunting could pose a significant threat to wildlife populations. The notable exception is elephant hunting which needs to be brought under control.
Ecology
Gorilla habitat: Western lowland gorilla
Chimpanzee habitat
Critically endangered fauna species: Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)
Elephants: African elephant (forest elephant)
Rainforests
Endemic Bird Species: Cameroon and Gabon lowlands EBA, Dja Faunal Reserve IBA: Grey-necked Picathartes (Picathartes oreas), Forest Swallow (Hirundo fuliginosa), Rachel's Malimbe (Malimbus racheliae)
Crocodiles: two species of crocodile, one being the African long-snouted crocodile (unep)
Strepsirrhini: southern needle-clawed bushbaby, Gabon bushbaby, dwarf bushbaby, potto, golden angwantibo
High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area: Congo Basin
Geography
Congo River Basin: Dja River is a contributary to the Congo River.
Human Activity
Natural sites with indigenous human population: "Two small populations of Baka pygmies live within the Reserve in small encampments, maintaining an essentially traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle"
Coffee: coffee plantations within the park abandoned in 1946
Traditional Hunting: "A population of pygmies live within the reserve in small sporadic encampments, and are free to hunt within the reserve using traditional methods." (AB)
Pygmy Peoples: "A population of pygmies lives within the reserve, in small sporadic encampments, maintaining an essentially traditional lifestyle." (UNESCO). This link is to a study of 2001 into the lives of the Baka pygmies:
Timeline
Holocene: "There is strong evidence that forest cover was reduced during the last Ice Age, lasting from 1.6 million to 10,000 years ago. While forested areas in the Congo River Basin are known to have persisted in some areas called refugia..........About 10,000 years ago, as the last Ice Age ended, glaciers receded and rainfall increased. The changing climate allowed savannas to be reclaimed by trees, and the forest grew to reach its current size."
Trivia
Cryptozoology: Mokole-Mbembe
Patrimonito's World Heritage Adventures
Visiting conditions
No road access: "La Réserve du Dja ne connaît pas de routes carrossables. L’accès se fait à pied, avec pas mal d’obstacles comme des traversées de points d’eau."
One thousand visitors or fewer: “En 2014, l’écotourisme représente un total de 114 touristes dont 7 nationaux, 11 résidents et 96 étrangers” (IUCN Outlook 2020)
WHS Names
Named after a River: Dja
WHS on Other Lists
World Biosphere Reserves: Dja (1981)
World Heritage Forest Programme
IUCN Conservation Outlook Assessment Critical
Centres of Plant Diversity: Af11 Forest zone, River Dja region - "The Dja Reserve is one of Africa's most species-rich rainforests. It includes the habitat of numerous remarkable animal and plant species, many of which are globally threatened."
World Heritage Process
First inscriptions: Cameroon 1987

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